Walt Whitman

I say that democracy can never prove itself beyond cavil, until it founds and luxuriantly grows its own forms of art, poems, schools, theology, displacing all that exists, or that has been produced anywhere in the past, under opposite influences.

American Poet

Michael Dirda

I don't think of myself as a critic at all. I'm a reviewer and essayist. I mainly hope to share with others my pleasure in the books and authors I write about, though sometimes I do need to cavil and point out shortcomings.

American Critic

Nostradamus

The young man, born to rule England, which his dying father commended to him. Once his father is dead, London will cavil. The kingdom is taken back from his son.

French Celebrity

William Wycherley

Bluster, sputter, question, cavil; but be sure your argument be intricate enough to confound the court.

English Dramatist

Cavil implies unnecessary criticism, suggesting pickiness and dissatisfaction.

Negative Connotation

Use 'cavil' when the complaints seem petty or too detailed to be valid concerns.

Unreasonable Complaints

Cavil is rarely used in positive contexts; it indicates a tendency to find faults.